Is 1 ohm or 4 ohm louder at the same wattage
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Bronze Member Username: Georgiaboy1989Kennesaw, Georgia Post Number: 38 Registered: Feb-07 | is 1 ohm or 4 ohm louder at the same wattage |
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Silver Member Username: Freezeman_7EveryThing I Own is FO..., OK U.S.A Post Number: 720 Registered: May-06 | welll your question is kinda general cause, if you put the exact same watts at 1 ohm and then at 4 ohms, yeah the 1 ohm will be waay louder, cause of less impedence. but if you wanted to push 500watts at 1 ohm, and with that same amp, it would prolly be 200watts at 4 ohms, but if you wants to push 500watts at 4 ohms with a different amp, taht same amp if 1 ohm stable would put out about 800watts, its really complicated sometimes, but not after you get the hang out it, hope that clears it up for you... what are you looking to push and with what amp?? that woujld help me out alot... |
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Silver Member Username: Nickb4247Post Number: 236 Registered: Dec-06 | A watt is a watt. 400@4ohms is the same as 400@1ohm. |
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Silver Member Username: Nickb4247Post Number: 237 Registered: Dec-06 | The difference is the effect on the cars electrical system. |
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Gold Member Username: AdddisorderWest palm, Florida Post Number: 3365 Registered: Jan-06 | nick what you just said doesnt make sense. if 400@4ohms is the same as 400@1ohm, then how would that be different on the cars electrical system? It wouldnt because its the exact same amount of power and its going to have the same amperage draw as long as both amps are the same efficacy. |
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Silver Member Username: Freezeman_7EveryThing I Own is FO..., OK U.S.A Post Number: 721 Registered: May-06 | so does anyone agree with me>??? cause it was kinda hard to explain |
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Bronze Member Username: Aaronjp1990Lerwick, Shetland Uk Post Number: 34 Registered: Apr-06 | i think what he want to know if you ran the sub with a 400@4 ohms and different amp that puts out 400@1 ohm. and if there is any difference. |
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Silver Member Username: Freezeman_7EveryThing I Own is FO..., OK U.S.A Post Number: 722 Registered: May-06 | oh well, then only thing would be the amps cooling system, but no the way aaron put it, its not a big difference, your amp will run cooler at 4 ohms tho.. 1 ohm is an un stable load on alot of amplifiers |
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Bronze Member Username: Aaronjp1990Lerwick, Shetland Uk Post Number: 35 Registered: Apr-06 | so you want to run at 4ohm rather than 2 or 1? higher the ohm the better? |
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Silver Member Username: Freezeman_7EveryThing I Own is FO..., OK U.S.A Post Number: 723 Registered: May-06 | oh well, then only thing would be the amps cooling system, but no the way aaron put it, its not a big difference, your amp will run cooler at 4 ohms tho.. 1 ohm is an un stable load on alot of amplifiers |
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Silver Member Username: Nickb4247Post Number: 238 Registered: Dec-06 | It is more efficient to run an amp at lower impendences |
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Bronze Member Username: Aaronjp1990Lerwick, Shetland Uk Post Number: 36 Registered: Apr-06 | i h8 all this ohm stuff  am going to run a jl 500/1 amp on a 13w6v2 sub at 2ohms. |
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New member Username: KaimanaPost Number: 8 Registered: Feb-07 | doesn't it put more stress on the electrical system when the ohms are lower??? i always thought that it was easier for an amp to work at a higher impedance.... |
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Gold Member Username: AdddisorderWest palm, Florida Post Number: 3366 Registered: Jan-06 | untrue kaimana. it all depends on how much power your putting out. on many amps the lower ohm load the more power but if your talking different ohm load same power then it doesnt matter. and chase not to sure on anything you said...so ill leave it at that |
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New member Username: KaimanaPost Number: 9 Registered: Feb-07 | ^^aight so its only more work on the amp because generally it would put out more watts at a lower impedance..... |
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Silver Member Username: Freezeman_7EveryThing I Own is FO..., OK U.S.A Post Number: 727 Registered: May-06 | yeah i think i made it more confusing.... my bad. if mat cant understand i doubt anyone else can... lol |
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Gold Member Username: N2audioLawrence, Ks USA Post Number: 1202 Registered: Mar-04 | "if you put the exact same watts at 1 ohm and then at 4 ohms, yeah the 1 ohm will be waay louder, cause of less impedence." Disagree. Power is the only factor of an amp that has any effect on SPL. "A watt is a watt. 400@4ohms is the same as 400@1ohm." yes "nick what you just said doesnt make sense. if 400@4ohms is the same as 400@1ohm, then how would that be different on the cars electrical system?" I believe the assumption was to be made that an amp running at 1 ohm is "most likely" going to be class D, while an amp at 4 would "most likely" be a/b "so you want to run at 4ohm rather than 2 or 1? higher the ohm the better?" as long as the amp is stable at the given impedance there shouldn't be much of a difference. Measurable maybe, not audible. |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5972 Registered: Nov-04 | If you had a choice between 4ohms and 1ohm, then it's better to run the amp at 4ohms. Not only is there less strain on the amp and power supply, it runs much cooler. |
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Gold Member Username: N2audioLawrence, Ks USA Post Number: 1210 Registered: Mar-04 | comparing amps of equal power -- a class d running at 75% eff at 1 ohm vs a class a/b running at 60% at 4 ohms -- the class D will run cooler. Excess heat definines efficiency. If you're talking about a slash or xenon, then I'd agree with you, but even then the differences are pretty slight. |
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Gold Member Username: AdddisorderWest palm, Florida Post Number: 3393 Registered: Jan-06 | but say you have two class d amps one does 400@4ohm and the other does 400@1ohm basically they are both going to be the same. if the amp running at 1ohm is designed to run that low its going to be the same. now with some cheaply built amps it may get hot or may shorten the life span of it, but thats the risk you get when you buy a cheap amp |
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Gold Member Username: Matt12490California USA Post Number: 1757 Registered: May-05 | I think he is trying to decide between a class D and a class a/b amp. If that is the case, get the class D because it is more efficient which will strain your charging system less. |
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Gold Member Username: JuliobSanto DomingoDominican Re... Post Number: 4193 Registered: Dec-05 | factor would be efficiency. I'd run it at lower loads. IS cheaper and is the same when it comes to audible issues |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5977 Registered: Nov-04 | If you're talking about class D amp, then 400w@4ohms is the better amp when compared to 400w@1ohm. Think about for a sec, it's a tricky question/answer. |
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Gold Member Username: AdddisorderWest palm, Florida Post Number: 3400 Registered: Jan-06 | why would their be a difference though isaac, if the amp is designed to run at 1ohm and if of decent quality its not going to be over heating or anything. only thing i can think of is more THD but it will still be low and i really doubt such a small amount would be noticable |
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New member Username: ZackattackKazoo, Mi Us Post Number: 1 Registered: Feb-07 | an amp will always put out more watts at lower impedences (lower Ohms). the more watts put out the hotter the amp will get. it is better to run at the lowest impedence so the amp isnt trying to stop amps from coming through, and overheating. it doesnt matter what class, mono or not... correct? the amount of watts matters more to the speaker.} |
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Gold Member Username: N2audioLawrence, Ks USA Post Number: 1212 Registered: Mar-04 | Zack, more reading, less typing  I'm with you Mat - but we're getting down to opinions at this point so -- whatever floats someone's boat. |
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Gold Member Username: BlainewPost Number: 2181 Registered: Nov-05 | heres the deal, as long as a speaker is RECIEVING 500 watts, it will be the same. an amp that does 500 watts at 1 ohm, on a one ohm speaker will sound the same as an amp that does 500 watts @ 4 ohms on a 4 ohm speaker but an amp that does 500 watts at 1 ohm, will always be louder than that same amp @ 4 ohms |
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Gold Member Username: BlainewPost Number: 2182 Registered: Nov-05 | also to make thinks way easier, just dont worry about it and run your subs @ the lowest ohms your amp can handle (most times 1) youll get the most power, for the least money, and who cares how hard the amp is working, if it was made to go 1 ohm, then it will work at one ohm |
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Gold Member Username: ShortysetniesRock Vegas, NC US Post Number: 1073 Registered: Mar-06 | wow blaine. if you wouldnt have made it bold or put it in a different color font, I wouldnt have understood it. haha |
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Gold Member Username: BlainewPost Number: 2183 Registered: Nov-05 | hehehehehe |
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Gold Member Username: N2audioLawrence, Ks USA Post Number: 1219 Registered: Mar-04 | "an amp that does 500 watts at 1 ohm, will always be louder than that same amp @ 4 ohms" Easy now...JBL, JL, PG ?? |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5982 Registered: Nov-04 | Before you all go overboard, there was a valid reason why I said 400w@4homs was better than 400w@1ohm. Take any amp and look at the spec. I'll give you an example, Audiobahn A8000T. It's 400w rms @ 4ohms, 800w @ 2ohms. If you run that amp at 4ohms, it runs cool and efficient. Push that to 2ohms and it gets hot. Depending on ventilation, could even cause thermal shut down. The main reason however was this, 400w amp @ 4ohms will almost double in power @ 2ohms, and @1ohm, double that. Now an amp that's giving 400w@1ohm is operating at it's maximum capacity. That same amp would probably give 200w@2ohms and 100w @4ohms. You could say on paper, 400w@4ohms and 400w@1ohm are the same, but in reality, they're not. One will be more efficient than the other (same type and brand of amp). Maybe I was the only one that saw the tricky question about 1ohm vs 4ohm amp. Who knows, but just wanted to point out the difference. |
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Gold Member Username: JuliobSanto DomingoDominican Re... Post Number: 4200 Registered: Dec-05 | if you read my post, it says pretty clear about efficiency. I have to say i'm impressed with boss. Their orange subs (750w rms), i heard two in a camry 2002 with a boss blade 3000d wired at 1 ohm. They don't require big boxes, they're optimized for small sealed enclosures. And damn, i saw a lot of roof flexing, it was loud and decent Sq. In a better box, that would have been an awesome cheap setup. Boss is improving... hehe lol! |
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Gold Member Username: AdddisorderWest palm, Florida Post Number: 3402 Registered: Jan-06 | makes sence isaac but to be fair with a decent built amp say ARC is doing 400@1 its not going to be over heating and i dont think that would be an issue at all. over heating seems to only be a problem with cheap amps. look at the IA20.1 the run at very low impedances but from what cannan has said dont get hot at all. but i guess what it comes down to, well to me anyway is it may not be 100% the same but it is close enough |
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